A patriotic pensioner has landed himself in court after he lifted his kilt and shouted “I am a true Scotsman” at a group of schoolgirls.
Martin Torres exposed himself in an Edinburgh street by flashing his buttocks after the children asked him what was under his kilt.
But the “highly inappropriate” act landed the 68-year-old Scot in the dock after he was spotted baring himself by an adult witness who called in the police.
Torres admitted to exposing his buttocks to the three school children, aged 11, 12 and 13, in September 2018 when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday.
The pensioner, of the capital’s Fountainbridge, turned up to court wearing his kilt along with a Prince Charlie jacket, a tam o’ Shanter hat and two tartan scarfs.
Prosecutor Elizabeth McAllister told the court the three girls encountered Torres while walking along the city’s Greendykes Road at around 4.30pm on September 4, 2018.
Ms McAllister said: “They saw a male staggering along the pavement in front of them. The accused turned around and saw the girls coming.
“As the complainers walked past the accused shouted at them “I am a true Scotsman”.
“The complainers turned round and the accused lifted up the back of his kilt and exposed his buttocks to them.
“A witness was walking along the road and also saw him expose himself to the girls.”
The fiscal said the shocked witness then contacted the police to report the incident.
Lawyer Peter O’Neill, defending, said Torres “had been drinking” that day and the children had asked him ‘what’s that under your kilt mister?’.
The brief added: “He was messing about and was a bit stupid.
“He is embarrassed about this. He didn't think he had done anything wrong at the time but in reflection he does now.”
Sheriff John Cook accepted there was no sexual element to the offence and fined Torres £270.
The sheriff said: “This was highly inappropriate behaviour, particularly towards the children involved.”
Torres pleaded guilty to conducting himself in a disorderly manner by exposing his buttocks to three children and committing a breach of the peace at Greendykes Road, Edinburgh, on September 4, 2018.
